About Investor-Owned Utilities

Investor-owned utilities (IOUs) are owned by shareholders and are operated for profit. Their need to provide a return on investment for shareholders tends to incentivize building infrastructure. There are twelve investor-owned utilities in Wisconsin. While this is a smaller figure than the number of munis and co-ops in Wisconsin, IOUs serve a larger number of customers and therefore account for the vast majority of electricity sales. Some quick facts about IOUs:

IOUs provide 83% of retail electricity sales in Wisconsin.*

These private, for-profit utilities are owned by shareholders that are not exclusively from the service area.

The IOU business model is predicated on providing a return on shareholder investment.